<i>Chlamydia pecorum</i> Infection in Free-ranging Koalas (<i>Phascolarctos cinereus</i>) on French Island, Victoria, Australia

Legione, Alistair R.; Amery-Gale, Jemima; Lynch, Michael; Haynes, Leesa; Gilkerson, James R.; Sansom, Fiona M.; Devlin, Joanne M.

doi:10.7589/2015-10-276

Cited by 22 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The presence of genotype L in this population, not previously detected in koalas and not found in other Victorian populations in this study, suggests this C. pecorum strain was not moved with the koalas when this population was established by translocation of koalas from French Island in the 1980s (Martin, 1989). The origin of genotypes L, M and N in koalas is unknown, although their close similarity to C. pecorum ompA sequences from livestock raises interesting questions over the potential for cross-host transmission from livestock, for which molecular evidence continues to grow (Jelocnik et al, 2013;Bachmann et al, 2015;Legione et al, 2016). Future sampling of livestock that occupy ranges overlapping those of koala populations would be invaluable in investigating this hypothesis further.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These data were included to improve the power of our study and increase the likelihood of accurate correlations being described. For similar reasons, here we also include the clinical data from two Chlamydia-positive koalas from French Island, whose ompA genotypes we reported recently (Legione et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In total, urogenital swabs from 820 koalas and ocular swabs from 459 koalas were used in this study. These included 430 urogenital samples collected as a component of previously described research (Patterson et al, 2015;Legione et al, 2016). Other samples were collected between 2010 and 2015, inclusive, during a variety of research field trips, management programmes and post-mortem examinations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There was no significant relationship between pCpec presence and the number of bacterial genome copies detected from swabs (P50.326). Univariable binomial logistic regression was conducted to test the relationship between pCpec presence and gender or Legione et al (2016); however, it was not named as genotype N. dUnknown genotypes were C. pecorum-positives from which ompA could not be amplified. All samples were confirmed to be C. pecorum via sequencing of the 16S rRNA region and/or presence of C. pecorum plasmid pCpec.…”

Section: Pecorum Plasmid Pcpec Is Present In 90 % Of Victorian Sammentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identification of unusual Chlamydia pecorum genotypes in Victorian koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) and clinical variables associated with infection

Legione

Patterson

Whiteley

et al. 2016

Journal of Medical Microbiology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pecorum Plasmid Pcpec Is Present In 90 % Of Victorian Sammentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Identification of unusual Chlamydia pecorum genotypes in Victorian koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) and clinical variables associated with infection

Legione

Patterson

Whiteley

et al. 2016

Journal of Medical Microbiology

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“…This observation was also repeated in the recent MLST of C. pecorum infecting koalas from French Island in Victoria. In this study, it was also observed that the certain koala strains were more similar to livestock strains than they were to other koala strains 17 Figure 1. Genetic relationships of C. pecorum strains found in various hosts.…”

Section: Pecorum Molecular Epidemiologymentioning

confidence: 66%

Chlamydia pecorum: successful pathogen of koalas or Australian livestock?

Jelocnik

2017

Microbiol. Aust.

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In Australia, the obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia pecorum is best known as the notorious koala pathogen that causes debilitating ocular and urogenital tract disease.While globally published data suggests that this species is essentially ubiquitous in livestock, little is known about the epidemiology of livestock C. pecorum infections here in Australia. My research is focused on investigating the genetic diversity and transmission patterns of C. pecorum, and why it causes disease. Using our newly developed C. pecorum-specific molecular epidemiology typing scheme we provided the first epidemiological data on infections in sheep and cattle in Australia, identifying strains associated with a range of diseases in livestock, and uncovering an unexpected level of diversity for this pathogen.Most importantly, we observed that the same strain can infect koala and sheep, indicating on ongoing cross-host transmission and 'spill-over' risks to wildlife. Further, by dissecting koala, sheep, cattle and pig C. pecorum strains genomes, we have also identified novel virulence-associated factors that could be explored as vaccine candidates for both livestock and koala infections.Chlamydiae, known for their obligatory parasitic lifestyle and distinct biphasic life-cycle 1 , are diverse and enigmatic bacteria that infect an astonishing range of hosts 2 . This phylum includes Chlamydia pecorum, a species that constantly remains in the spotlight due to its role as a major threat to the survival of the iconic koalas. In koalas, highly prevalent C. pecorum infections cause ocular disease that can eventually lead to blindness, and urogenital disease that can lead to infertility 3,4 . The pathogenic potential of C. pecorum in economically significant livestock species (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs) has been well documented in Europe and USA, and to a lesser degree elsewhere including The curious case of Chlamydia pecorum infections in AustraliaWhile the koala chlamydial infections are easily the most intensively studied of any wildlife species, almost nothing is known about the prevalence and epidemiology of C. pecorum infections in Australian livestock. Veterinarians from agriculturally productive areas throughout Australia regularly report cases of chlamydiosis in sheep and cattle 8,9 , but the information about the genetic diversity of strains infecting livestock is lacking. A range of previous molecular studies suggested that C. pecorum strains infecting koala are genetically diverse 10,11 ; however, none of the studies investigated how and whether these strains are related to livestock strains. It has been hypothesised that the origin of koala C. pecorum infections is associated with the import of 'presumably C. pecorum infected' livestock in the late 1780s 3 . The encroachment of koala habitats by sheep and cattle farming along the east coast of Australia is common and raises serious questions over the relationships and potential role that cross-host transmission may have in the epidemiology and origin of chlamydial di...

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Chlamydial infections in wildlife–conservation threats and/or reservoirs of ‘spill-over’ infections?

Burnard

Polkinghorne

2016

Veterinary Microbiology

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Chlamydia pecorum Infection in Free-ranging Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) on French Island, Victoria, Australia

Cited by 22 publications

References 14 publications

Identification of unusual Chlamydia pecorum genotypes in Victorian koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) and clinical variables associated with infection

Identification of unusual Chlamydia pecorum genotypes in Victorian koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) and clinical variables associated with infection

Chlamydia pecorum: successful pathogen of koalas or Australian livestock?

Chlamydial infections in wildlife–conservation threats and/or reservoirs of ‘spill-over’ infections?

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